Jenna Weissman Joselit, the Charles E. Smith Professor of Judaic Studies and Professor of History at the George Washington University, is a distinguished historian of the American Jewish experience and a former columnist for the Forward.
Jenna Weissman Joselit
By Jenna Weissman Joselit
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Culture Story’s the Same, Only the Shul Has Changed
Most of the time, I live in one world and write about another. But now and then, the two collide, making for a lively conjunction. The other day, I was researching an article about the razing, in 1927, of Temple Emanu-El, arguably New York City’s premier Reform congregation, when it was located in the very…
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The Schmooze Bezalel Graduates Hold Their Own
Crossposted From Under the Fig Tree Over the next few weeks, those seeking respite from the clamor of talking heads should make a beeline for the Corcoran College of Art + Design where the work of recent graduates of Israel’s storied Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design is on display. The exhibition will take your…
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Culture A Ticket That Marked the Path to Freedom
My desk at home, which I commandeered from my husband, is an imposing piece of furniture. Fashioned out of mahogany and ornamented with brass fittings, it also boasts a leather top, which is covered by a protective layer of glass. A wide array of mementos are wedged in between the leather and the glass: A…
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The Schmooze Best Bric-a-Brac Culture Can Buy
Crossposted From Under the Fig Tree Over winter break, I didn’t want for activity. There were people to see, films to screen and a wealth of exhibitions to behold, one of the most inventive of which was a modest but arresting show at the Jewish Museum, on until February 3, called “Collection Tableaux.” Taking the…
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The Schmooze Where Are the Books at the NYPL?
Crossposted From Under the Fig Tree Remember the plaintive Pete Seeger song, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” In the wake of a recent research trip to the New York Public Library, I’m inclined to sing a similar song of lament about the fate of the book and call it “Where Have All the Books…
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Culture A Good Year For the Moses
By now, I suspect that most Forward readers are aware that Herman Wouk, at the ripe old age of 97, has just published a novel called “The Lawgiver,” whose plot hinges on the efforts of an assorted band of characters to produce a movie based on the life of Moses. Determined to outdo Cecil B….
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The Schmooze Coney Island Before and After Sandy
Crossposted From Under the Fig Tree Ever since I first read John Kasson’s “Amusing the Million,” a vividly drawn historical account of Coney Island’s singular appeal as an urban “dreamland,” I’ve had a soft spot for that Brooklyn neighborhood, whose streets are called “Surf,” and “Mermaid,” and “Neptune.” In this, I’m not alone. So, too,…
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Culture Then and Now, Trying to Demystify Kosher Rites
Within the past few months, circumcision and other Jewish rituals such as kashrut, the dietary laws, and shechita, the kosher butchering of animals, have been the subject of considerable attention, much of it condemnatory. But then, that shouldn’t occasion too much of a surprise: For centuries, and continuing into our own day, the corporeal practices…
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Culture A brilliant Jewish storyteller may be gone, but her characters are ‘still talking’
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